Malnutrition rising warns Global Nutrition Report

Malnutrition is rising in all countries, warns the 2016 Global Nutrition Report

Malnutrition is on the rise in every country in the world and is a leading global driver of disease, according to the 2016 Global Nutrition Report.

Malnutrition is affecting not only people who are suffering from starvation but those that are obese, it revealed.

The report showed that 44% of countries experienced very serious levels of both under-nutrition and adults being overweight and obese.

It said that one-in-three people were now affected by malnutrition in the global community.

Malnutrition manifests itself in different ways, including poor child growth and development, individuals who are skin and bone, as well as those that are carrying too much weight.

‘Biggest risk factors’​

“Malnutrition and diet are by far the biggest risk factors for the global burden of disease,”​ it argued.

“The world’s countries have agreed on targets for nutrition, but despite some progress in recent years the world is off track to reach those targets.”​

It revealed that there had been insufficient progress in the fight against all forms of malnutrition; for example, almost all countries were off course on efforts to reduce anaemia in women and to prevent further increases in diabetes.

“One-in- three people suffer from some form of malnutrition,”​ said Lawrence Haddad, co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report’s independent expert group and senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

“We now live in a world where being malnourished is the new normal. It is a world that we must all claim as totally unacceptable.”​

‘Cope with the threat’​

Professor Corinna Hawkes, co-chair of the group and director of the Centre for food policy, City University London, said: “But governments and donors now also have to cope with the threat that nutrition-related non-communicable diseases and obesity pose to improving global health and development.​

“One-in-12 people globally have diabetes now, and nearly 2bn people are obese or overweight. We must stem the tide​.”​

The report called for governments, businesses, civil society organisations and individuals to tackle malnutrition in all its forms.

Global Nutrition Report key findings

Societal costs: 11% of gross domestic product is lost every year in Africa and Asia due to malnutrition

Family costs: In the US, when one person in a household is obese, the household spends an additional 8% of its annual income in healthcare costs

Financing gaps: nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases received only $50M of donor funding in 2014, despite the fact that all noncommunicable diseases cause nearly 50% of death and disability in low- and middle-income countries